Ellie Gordon-Moershel interviews Marusya Bociurkiw and Terri Roberton about collaborating on their new graphic memoir series, The Femme Monologues. Written by Bociurkiw with graphics by Roberton, the series appears monthly in Xtra! Toronto and in Capital Xtra! (Ottawa).

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW NOW.

In this 25-minute interview Alex Samur chats with George Fetherling about his latest novel Walt Whitman's Secret and the impact the American poet had on Canadians.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

George Fetherling, the "iconic Canadian poet, writer and editor" (Globe and Mail), has been called "a mercurial, liberal intelligence…the kind of which English Canada has too short a supply" (Montreal Gazette). His 50 books include fiction, memoir, travel narrative and cultural commentary. He lives in Vancouver and Toronto. His column on books appears on rabble.ca.

Radio book lounge goes underground to explore some unconventional forms of publishing. We ask Vancouver-based author, artist and publisher Robert Chaplin about his own underground tactics and how to get started with self-publishing.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

(00:00-00:35) - Intro

(00:36-13:26) - Interview with Robert

(13:27-18:17) - Reading from The Elephant Book and Brussel Sprouts and Unicorns.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, speaks at a conference held by Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

Louv discusses how the lack of nature in the lives of our youngest generations has long-lasting psychological, physical and emotional effects.

LISTEN NOW.

This two-part podcast was recorded by Allendria Brunjes, a regular contributor to radio book lounge.

Salman Rushdie's latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence, is a highly imaginative, historical novel that spans Mughal India and Renaissance Florence. It's about the uses of power, both the wielding of banal political power and the seductive power of beauty and art. Rushdie is the author of nine other novels including the Man Booker winning Midnight's Children, The Moor's Last Sigh and The Satanic Verses. Stuart and Brendan Woods caught up with Rushdie this summer in Toronto.

LISTEN NOW

Stuart Woods is a journalist living in Toronto. Brendan Woods is a producer also living in Toronto. Yes, they are brothers, both in the biological and spiritual sense of the word.

It's really only in the last 20 years or so that China has opened its borders to Western tourists and even as thousands of people prepare to descend on Beijing this summer the fact is most of China is still untouched by mass tourism — that may be changing.

Stuart Woods gets the low down from Toronto food-writers and authors of Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, on culinary traditions beyond the urbanized eastern third of China.

LISTEN NOW

Stuart Woods is a journalist living in Toronto. Brendan Woods is a producer also living in Toronto. Yes, they are brothers, both in the biological and spiritual sense of the word.

Short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction, UK author, Sadie Jones' debut has been lauded for its "elegant and spare" prose and its "raw and explosive" plot. Set in 1950s London, The Outcast tells the story of ex-convict Lewis Aldridge on his way back from jail to face his family and middle-class community. What ensues is nothing less than dramatic!

Stuart Woods speaks with Jones in Toronto where she describes the inner workings of her first novel.

LISTEN NOW

Stuart Woods is a journalist living in Toronto. Brendan Woods is a producer also living in Toronto. Yes, they are brothers, both in the biological and spiritual sense of the word.

Spoken-word artist, writer and professor emeritus of No-Knowledge College, Naila Keleta Mae is a woman to watch. Or, rather, to listen to. For national poetry month, Mae has squared off against her peers at the 2007 CBC Poetry Face Off. She will be featured in the upcoming Mayworks Festival in Toronto. Here, Mae discusses her art, activism and perspectives on spoken word, dub poetry and education, and reads some of her work.

PART 1 Listen now.

PART 2 Listen now.

Poet, academic and runner Suzanne Zelazo reads from her collection Parlance and tells radio book lounge contributor Matt Shaw about her work, her readership, her influences and the way breath can tie poetry to your workout.

Listen now: PART I and PART II.